Quiet In The Rain
by Solo Ensemble
Summary: [Liason COMPLETE]: I stink at summaries, but here goes: Jason rushes to Elizabeth's studio when his best friend needs him most. I promise it's more interesting than that. :b


**Title:**Quiet in the Rain

**Song:**Pictures of You

**Artist:**The Cure

**Disclaimer:**All names mentioned herein are without prejudice the property of the MLA. No infringement of copyright is intended.

**Premise:** Jason bursts into Elizabeth's studio just when his best friend needs him most.

**Author's Note:** I've always wanted to do a songfic for a Cure song. :) Yay. I know I have billions of other things to update, but this has been bugging me for a month, so I scrounged up some time and have been working on this for a while, and I'm pretty pleased with it. I hope you enjoy it.

For the kinda-sorta sequel, check out_Beyond the Wall_to be posted on April 30. Thank you.

* * *

**Quiet In The Rain**

His pulse was racing; his breathing erratic, and panic had set in long ago. Jason Morgan raced up three flights of stairs, taking them two at a time, to his best friend's tiny studio. Something was terribly wrong. He'd heard from Lucky Spencer, a classmate of hers at PCU, that she'd missed all her classes today and hadn't even shown up at Kelly's for breakfast or her shift. And that just wasn't like Elizabeth Webber at all – she was a stickler for punctuality and she took all of her commitments very seriously.

No, this wasn't like Elizabeth at all. And that was what worried Jason the most. He had been unable to leave the warehouse all evening, but he had called her cell about twenty times. She had never answered.

Pure adrenaline pumped through his body as he sprinted up the stairs, and his large hands were curled into tight fists. Something was wrong. It had to be – the abruptly reclusive behavior was highly uncharacteristic. He knew his best friend well enough to know when something was up with her. After all, they'd been friends for years - since about two months after he became Jason Morgan; he could still remember the exact night. She had just moved to Port Charles to be close to her elderly grandmother and the two of them had met at Jake's. He'd thought she was gorgeous and wanted her in his bed. Instead, Elizabeth had challenged him to a game of pool.

They had ended up talking the night away, and he reluctantly discovered that he liked her, that she had substance and even more surprisingly, that he enjoyed her company. She was good at the game on top of that and sank plenty of stripes, but Jason was simply better and beat her easily.

She challenged him to another game.

And he beat her again.

But Elizabeth just kept challenging him to one game after another until Jake got fed up and just told him to close up when they were done. And somewhere around three in the morning, after a couple beers and enduring conversation, Jason finally let her win.

And that was how he met the greatest friend he had ever known. She soon became his rock, his confidante. She understood him – she really _got_ him – and she never judged. Even when he had first started working for Sonny all those years ago; even when he would come into Jake's with blood on his hands and pick up a cue just because he had promised her a game as soon as he got off work. Even then, she didn't let it faze her. She just stood close to his side as he did hers, and that was how their friendship had endured.

Somehow, she had become the most important person in his life. And the thought that something was wrong – that Elizabeth was hurt or sick or maybe worse – set Jason into a mode of panic that he didn't often experience.

He reached her studio and his large hand wrapped around the doorknob of her door. It was a sturdy steel contraption he had installed at her studio after she had been kidnapped the past summer. Elizabeth hated it but put up with it to placate him since she had adamantly refused the bodyguards he wanted to post at her door.

The door was locked, and Jason rapped his knuckles anxiously against it. She just _had_ to be inside. If she wasn't, he didn't know where to look. He had already been to the school, to the community center where she volunteered, to Jake's, Kelly's, Vista Point, and even the park. Elizabeth just_ had_ to be at her studio.

There was no mistaking the worry in his voice as he frantically called out to her. "Elizabeth? Elizabeth, are you inside?"

He stood stock-still, neck craned to catch even the smallest sound from inside the tiny studio. Relief flooded through his body momentarily when he caught a muffled whimper, and then in an instant he was searching his pockets for his keys.

She was inside. She was here. And in a minute, he'd be with her. That was all that he could think as he jammed the jagged silver key she'd let him have into the lock and shoved the heavy door open. His anxious cerulean eyes scanned the room until they landed on her maroon couch. And there, curled up in a little ball of white cotton pajamas and wild chocolate curls was his Elizabeth.

And she was crying.

**I've been looking so long at these pictures of you**  
_**That I almost believe that they're real**_

Jason could literally feel his heart fall as he watched her tiny form shake with sobs, and with a heavy hand he quietly pushed the door shut behind him. He hated it when she cried. It wasn't often – in fact, he had only seen her cry a couple times over the past few years. Once after a particularly disastrous telephone conversation with her parents, once when she dumped Ric, another time when she and Zander had called it quits after a pretty brutal discourse, again when her favorite soap opera couple of all time had been destroyed by a character she referred to as 'that severely emasculated donkey-whore', and she'd shed a few tears a couple weeks ago when her beloved Gram had passed on.

Still, he hated it when she cried. It was so…wrong. Elizabeth had to be the most loving and compassionate person he had ever known, and the thought of someone or something else causing her pain made his blood boil like few other things did. And all of those times, Jason had wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms and kiss away her tears. But of course, that just wasn't an option.

He had long since had feelings for Elizabeth – the initial way he had reacted to noticing her beauty that night at Jake's hadn't changed at all. He had thought himself to be content with a friendship after that first night but as time passed and he and Elizabeth grew closer, he found himself wanting more. But she didn't seem to show any interest in that, and Jason didn't even bring it up at all. And so he found himself accepting the idea of a friendship with her only because he loved having her around, and that was the only way that was going to happen. He had been the dependable and comfortable friend when all the time, he wanted more – so much more.

But Elizabeth had always been the top priority – first, last and always – and if she wanted only friendship from him, he would give it to her. There wasn't a thing that he wouldn't give her if she asked, and Jason just considered himself fortunate that Elizabeth hadn't figured that out yet. And at the moment, he'd do anything to make her tears stop and put that brilliant light back into those wide sapphire eyes.

_**I've been living so long with my pictures of you  
**__**That I almost believe that the pictures are all I can feel**_

"Hey." His voice was hushed and strained as Jason crept forward into the center of the tiny studio. Elizabeth had several painting drying on her easels, and the canvases he had stretched the week before were still piled haphazardly in the corner. Her brushes were scattered on the little worktable and her painting rags were draped on the sink and little ledge, but other than that her studio was tidy and clean.

She stilled at the sound of his voice, realizing for the first time that he was in the room. She hadn't heard him come in, Jason knew, and he stood with his muscles tensed as he waited for her reaction to the intrusion.

Sometimes it was hard to predict Elizabeth's behavior when she was in an emotional mood. He remembered back when Zander had picked a fight with her and said horrible things about her having a wounded bird complex. They had been together then, and that was the exact moment they broke up. Elizabeth had been moping around for hours while he was trapped at the warehouse, and when he had shown up at her studio with the full intention of just sitting with her and listening, something entirely different had happened. She had greeted him at the door with a mischievous smirk and dragged him to Jake's for a few games of pool. Zander hadn't even come up the whole evening and as they were zooming down the Cliff road on his bike and he heard her laugh into the wind, Jason knew that she had already dealt with it and put it behind her.

The end of her relationship with Ric had been an entirely different matter. Elizabeth had burrowed into his chest and cried herself to sleep, and he had to work hard the next morning to convince her to get dressed and have breakfast with him at Kelly's. But after a few days of wallowing, Elizabeth was once again good as new.

Jason sighed heavily, cringing when another memory came back to greet him. He had been involved pretty heavily with Courtney Matthews at the time, and Elizabeth had discovered that the woman was cheating on him with a man by the name of Jasper Jacks. She had tried to tell him but Jason had angrily accused her of lying to him and had stormed away. Later, he was forced to return to her studio because he had left something important there and as he left with the item recovered, an emotional and seething Elizabeth had hurled a snow globe at his head.

No, Elizabeth was hardly predictable when she was being ruled by matters of the heart.

But as she wearily struggled to lift her upper body off the couch so that she could face him, Jason wondered if this was really one of those times. She looked…tired. Very tired. And broken.

Elizabeth finally managed to brace her weight on her hands and turned around slowly to peer up at him from under a mop of mussed espresso curls. And when those innocent sapphire eyes, wide and glistening with tears, turned up to his openly sympathetic ones, something inside Jason began to hurt.

The raw pain, the uncertainty, the heartbreak in those doe-like orbs cut through his heart like a pointed barb, piercing him painfully. And that was when he dropped his arms to his side and instantly swooped down to the couch to gather her nimble form in his strong arms, closing his eyes as she fisted the fabric of his t-shirt and began to cry anew.

_**Remembering you standing quiet in the rain  
**__**As I ran to your heart to be near you**_

His arms closed tightly around her body and Elizabeth relished the pressure and pressed even closer, seeking to hide her face in the warm cavern of his neck. Her breathing hitched on a particularly pained sob and Jason pulled her up higher, hugging her tightly as she pressed her face to his neck.

The enforcer's hold on her was strong and fierce, as if he sought to shield her from every insidious thing out there that wanted to harm her. And wrapped up in his embrace, Elizabeth had never felt so safe. Jason had been her rock for longer than she could remember – there wasn't any other man on earth that could calm her down and make her feel as protected as he did. He was there whenever she needed him, unquestioningly lending her his strength when she had none left.

She sobbed against him, her nails curling into his skin but Jason didn't complain or wince. One large hand rubbed gently up and down her back, soothing her. In the process, her white t-shirt had ridden up and at times his rough palms stroked the silky smooth skin of her lower back.

He pressed his face into her hair as her delicate body convulsed with sobs, feeling helpless as she continued to cry. "Hey. Hey." Long, blunt fingers tangled themselves in the riot of silky curls and he pressed his lips to the soft velvet locks. "What's wrong?"

She could barely find her voice enough to sniff, "Everything."

_**And we kissed as the sky fell in  
**__**Holding you close  
**__**How I always held close in your fear**_

A familiar feeling surged through him – the wish, the heartfelt desire to make everything all right again. To fix this. To make her smile again. His fingers, still trapped in her curls, lightly stroked the petal-soft skin at the nape of her neck.

The heartbreak in her voice made his own heart break. She sounded so lost, so desolate, so alone. Jason tightened his arms around her narrow waist, almost crushing her against his hard body in a subconscious attempt to remind her that _he_ was there; that she _wasn't_ alone.

Her sobs and sniffles were the only sounds in the quiet studio and as Jason buried his nose in her soft hair and inhaled deeply, he couldn't help but think of how badly he wanted to hear her laughter. He loved Elizabeth's laugh. It was light and lilting, like a song. And when it floated over him, it caused even his darkest mood to dissipate and brought a reluctant smile to his face. Elizabeth had an enchanting laugh; it came from somewhere deep inside her heart and was contagious to all who heard it.

But the laughter wasn't there now; only the choked sobs and hiccups met his ears.

_**Remembering you running soft through the night  
**__**You were bigger and brighter and whiter than the snow**_

She was tense in his arms, the supple young muscles rigid as she wept. Jason shifted her in his arms, pulling Elizabeth right into his lap and resumed his comforting hold on her. She coughed bitterly and the hand that was fisted in his blue t-shirt lifted when she smacked his chest angrily. The innocent blow didn't hurt Jason at all – in fact, it relieved him to some extent that her frantic weeping wasn't all-consuming.

He brushed his lips against her temple, feeling it all to acutely when his broad palm settled on a creamy expanse of skin just above the top of her already low-riding pajama bottoms.

She punched him again, clearly not angry with him but herself and the circumstances which she found herself in. Jason's large hand closed against her small fist where it still lay connected with his chest and he just held her still. Her pulse was racing underneath his strong fingers but the sobs that had caused her small body to convulse so had become less powerful. And now that the sobs had almost ceased, the anger had begun to flood in.

_**And screamed at the make-believe**_

Her breathing was long and hard as she seethed in Jason's firm embrace and he felt her fist tighten in his hand. His lips brushed her hairline as he patted her back gently, feeling the rage bubbling beneath the surface. "You wanna talk about it?"

Elizabeth had to swallow hard before she could speak and when she did, her words were terse and clipped. "What's there to talk about? Little Lizzie's been shafted again."

Jason winced at the bitterness in her voice and pulled back to look at her. Her face was flushed, her sapphire eyes were dark and stormy, and Elizabeth was visibly seething. Jason's long fingers trailed the soft skin at her temples and along her jaw line as he tenderly brushed her soft hair behind her ear, wishing that he could brush away her pain just as easily. "What happened?"

She didn't want to talk about it. He could see that as plain as day. But as he looked at her, gazing deep into her troubled eyes and gently combing his fingers through her espresso locks, he could see something in Elizabeth begin to crack.

Elizabeth's eyes fluttered shut as Jason's hand found the edge of her face. Unconsciously, she turned her cheek further into his rough palm, drawing from him all the comfort and strength he offered. God, he was so warm. Her hand was still on his chest, his larger one still wrapped around it as his thumb stroked her racing pulse, soothing her.

She knew without opening her eyes that he was watching her – she could feel his gaze, heated but unassuming, drift over her face. That was Jason. He was always there for her when she needed him but he made sure never to press her. He just sat with her and held her if she needed to be held, and he let her come to him of her own accord. Out of everyone she knew – everyone she had ever known – he was the only one to do that. Everyone else in her life naturally assumed that they knew what was best for her and had no qualms about letting her know, and then deriding her when she chose to think for herself.

But Jason was different. He always had been. And Elizabeth couldn't imagine ever being without him.

When her large blue eyes slowly opened, Jason saw the new tears that had gathered there. But behind the liquid emotion, he saw the gratitude and the willingness to let him help.

_**Screamed at the sky and you finally found  
**__**All your courage to let it all go**_

Wordlessly he pulled her back into his arms, letting her rest her head on his chest and sob. The panic he had felt when he'd run to the studio, not knowing if she was hurt or sick or even there, had resurfaced as he wondered what had his best friend so upset.

"Elizabeth…"

His voice was rusty, a reverent prayer, begging her to let him in and let him help. Elizabeth sniffled brokenly as her thoughts revisited the telephone conversation she'd had with her parents earlier that day, and her words when she finally spoke were thick and slurred by tears.

"They're gone again. And they didn't even tell me."

Jason's sandy brows furrowed and he leaned back against the armrest of the crimson couch until he was half lying down with Elizabeth's body sprawled on top of him as she tried to stop her hiccups. "Who's gone, Elizabeth?" His hand still stroked her soft chocolate hair. "Who didn't tell you?"

She let out a chuckle, harsh and bitter, and sniffled once more. "My parents." Jason's fingers stilled in her hair. "I tried to call them today about my graduation in May at the number for their shelter in Bosnia. I couldn't get through-" Her voice broke on a small sob. "I had to call all their friends – as many as I could find – before someone told me that they had left Bosnia months ago. They're in Chechnya."

Jason closed his eyes and frowned when her body quivered against his. He'd never met Elizabeth's parents, but he'd heard of them. And he hadn't liked what he heard. They'd practically pawned Elizabeth off on Audrey all those years ago, and they never visited and only called once when she had been kidnapped. And now, as he tightened his grip around the petite brunette's waist, all he could feel toward them was anger – anger at how they still managed to hurt her when they were halfway across the world.

"It was so embarrassing – calling all those people and asking them for my own mom and dad's telephone number. None of them could believe that I didn't have the number – they said I probably just misplaced it." Her choked sob turned into a curbed laugh. "How could I have misplaced something I was never given, Jason?"

He pressed his lips to her crown but remained silent, not knowing what to say. Not knowing if there even _was _anything to say.

"They didn't even remember to tell their own daughter that they were leaving," she whispered into the folds of his t-shirt. "And I can't figure out why. Am I just that unimportant?"

"You're _very_ important, Elizabeth," Jason hissed forcefully, his hand fisting in her hair for a moment before he relaxed it.

She continued as if she hadn't heard him, and the pain and betrayal was still just as obvious in her voice. "I thought I was doing something nice – I didn't even want them to come to my graduation after what they said to me last time. I knew that they'd just go on and on about how worthless art is and how I should have become a doctor if I had any sense at all, but still – part of me thought that they'd want to be here for it." She rubbed her nose against Jason's blue shirt. "I guess not."

Jason quietly slipped off his motorcycle boots and let his legs get tangled up in hers again. It broke his heart sometimes how Elizabeth's parents behaved toward her. They didn't act like parents at all – they acted like she was a burden, a hindrance, a pesky little nuisance that they humored just so she'd take the hint and leave. And the worst part was that they made Elizabeth actually believe it.

She was sobbing again and her fat tears soaked through his shirt. "Why does it hurt so much? I didn't even really want them to come – I would have been fine if they said they were busy. I would have been _relieved_. I haven't spoken to them in a l-long time and part of me got that my parents and I would never be close – and I accepted that. I was fine with it. But then today…" Her shoulders convulsed under Jason's hand. "God, why does it hurt so much? Why do I have to care so much? They don't care about me – why can't I just make it stop hurting?"

_**Remembering you fallen into my arms  
**__**Crying for the death of your heart**_

"Because you're a good person, Elizabeth," Jason whispered, speaking up for the first time. "You have so much love to give, and you love with all your heart. That's why it hurts."

Her fingers idly stroked his chest through the thin cotton of his shirt as she tried not to choke on her tears. "You know, sometimes…I wish I didn't love them. It would be so much easier. It wouldn't matter then if they left me – like they always leave me. It wouldn't matter. They wouldn't be able to hurt me anymore."

"I know," he murmured softly, resting his cheek against her head and all but swallowing her in his embrace. "I know, Elizabeth."

_**You were stone-white  
**__**So delicate**_

"Out of everyone…they do it the most. And the worst." She shook her head, too weak to fight off the bad memories from her past as they rushed up to greet her. "I don't remember having one truly pleasant conversation with them. They never called me, either – I had to call them, and they never sounded happy to hear from me. They always chatted for a few minutes and then said that I was keeping them away from their patients."

Jason lifted one knee on the couch, settling back more comfortably in the pillows, and Elizabeth's body now rested between his parted legs. "It was like they couldn't wait to get off the phone. Like they couldn't wait to leave. And when Z-Zander said all those things to me about treating people like wounded birds a-and trying to fix them, he was right."

"Elizabeth," Jason cut in more tersely than he intended. "What Zander said was cruel and misguided, and you can't-"

"But he was right, Jason," she repeated softly, fingering the folds in his blue t-shirt. "I always wanted to take care of everything broken that came into my path – like it made me feel good and alive if I fixed something or someone."

"There's nothing wrong with that, Elizabeth."

"I make people _feel_ broken, Jason – whether they are or not. And that doesn't make me any better than my parents."

_**Lost in the cold  
**__**You were always so lost in the dark**_

He'd heard enough; Jason wasn't about to let her do that to herself. Shifting slightly, he tucked his fingers under her chin and forced Elizabeth to look up at him. "Elizabeth, listen to me: You are _nothing_ like your parents." She sighed and lowered her head, but her best friend wasn't done. "You're a wonderful person, sweetheart. You have this way of seeing and bringing out the best in people no matter what – you saw the best in _me_, after all."

That got a smile out of her. "That's different," she murmured, peeking up at him from under raven lashes studded with tears. "You _are_ the best."

He laughed and she settled back down onto his chest, feeling a wave of peace wash through her as his body rumbled underneath. "Bottom line – you care about people, Elizabeth. And you do your best to help them. You're the most loving person I know, and I…I can't imagine not being around you, Elizabeth."

"If I'm such a _wonderful_ person," she got out in a watery voice, "then why does everyone leave?"

_**Slow-drowned  
**__**You were angels  
**__**So much more than everything**_

Jason's eyes widened at her innocent and heartbroken question. "Elizabeth-"

"Zander left. He said he was through being my pity-project." She swallowed down a sob and continued speaking into Jason's chest, her voice thick and cracking. "Ric left, too. We just couldn't make it work. I-I expected too much. He was tired of it. I guess I made him feel broken, too."

A muscle in Jason's jaw ticked. "Elizabeth, Zander was a hot-headed jerk. He didn't know what he wanted for himself – he was stupid and impulsive and wouldn't know a good thing if it bit him on the ass. And Ric? Ric was a jackass, sweetheart. He knew you were too good for him and he resented you for it. And then he started looking for ways out. You had nothing to do with the fact that those two shitpots were so-"

But Elizabeth continued as if he hadn't spoken at all.

"I made him feel broken, too, and he ran. Away from me. He left just like Zander and my p-parents. They always left. And they were never sorry, either. And there was never any reason – they just left. I chased them away, too. I wasn't good enough for them either."

A lump formed in Jason's throat at the grief in Elizabeth's voice. She honestly believed that she wasn't good enough for all the people that had left her in the past. But she was wrong – it wasn't her that wasn't good enough: it was them. They hadn't appreciated her the way she deserved. Elizabeth was the most incredible woman he knew – had ever known – and he'd be damned if she went another minute thinking she wasn't good enough.

"Everyone leaves," she whispered raggedly. "I chase them all away. Gram was the only one that loved me, and she left, too. And now I don't have anyone." Her voice broke on a sob and her hand fisted in his shirt. "It's only a matter of time before I chase you away, too."

_**Oh, hold for the last time then slip away – quietly  
**__**Open my eyes but I never see anything**_

Jason was shocked. Absolutely floored. Did Elizabeth honestly believe that anything she did could make him walk away from her?

His broad hands found her waist, spanning it, and Jason pulled her up so that he could look her straight in the eyes, feeling a pleasant warmth sizzle through his body when her soft one slid over it. "Elizabeth. Look at me."

Her dark eyes fluttered to his for a moment before Elizabeth averted her gaze.

"Elizabeth, I'm never going to leave you." Jason's fingers stroked her hair gently, imploring her to believe what he said as his intense cerulean orbs probed hers.

"I wouldn't blame you if you did," she murmured weakly in reply. Jason's heart pounded painfully in his chest as she sagged back down, resting her cheek on his chest once more. "I really wouldn't."

"Elizabeth, stop it," he growled, giving her delicate frame a brisk shake. "Stop talking like that. There is absolutely nothing wrong with you – do you understand me?"

"There has to be."

Jason's brows furrowed at the defeated and broken tone of Elizabeth's voice. This wasn't Elizabeth. She was _never_ like this. In all the years he had known her, she had _never_ spoken like this.

His soft sigh rustled through her dark hair as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Elizabeth, I meant what I said." And indeed he did. She had become too important to him in too short a time for Jason to even consider anything to the contrary. She'd become a part of him, whether she knew it or not, and walking away from her would be like walking away from himself. "I would never leave you. I lo…I care about you too much to do be able to do that."

_**If only I had thought of the right words  
**__**I could have held on to your heart**_

"I'd never walk away, Elizabeth, unless you wanted me to."

That made her think. Slowly, the brunette braced her hands flat on Jason's chest and lifted herself up so that they were looking at each other eye to eye. Jason sucked in a tightly drawn breath when he realized just how close they were, just how intimately their bodies were pressed together, but thankfully Elizabeth didn't notice.

He could see the uncertainty and timidity in her large eyes as she rolled a question around in her head, trying to decide whether or not to articulate it. In the end, curiosity won out.

"Why _do _you stay, Jason? What's made you stay for four years?"

The question got a small smile out of him. "You."

The brunette rolled her eyes. "Quit being cute, Morgan, and answer the question." Her voice lost its amused lilt and dropped down lower as she studied him seriously once more. "Why are you here, Jason?"

The intensity in her eyes made his throat suddenly dry up, and Jason had to swallow a couple times before he could find his gaze. Those dazzling sapphire orbs, dark as the midnight sky, held him captivated. His voice, when he finally spoke, was as rough as sandpaper. "Here in your life? Or here in your studio?"

She shifted on his chest, the movement drawing her face even closer to his and causing bolts of electricity to shoot through Jason's nerve endings. "Both."

He sighed softly, looking away as he tried to put his thoughts into words. It wasn't going to be easy. Elizabeth was in quest of an answer, and he felt she deserved one. But the problem lay in what he was going to tell her – and what he was going to safely keep to himself. Part of him wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and tell her that he was here – in her life, in her studio – because he loved her, and that was why he'd never be able to walk away. The other part – the part he liked to believe was more rational – told him not to bombard her with his own emotions when she was obviously having a tough enough time dealing with her own.

"I'm here because you're the best person I know, Elizabeth."

Amusement tugged at the corner of her mouth. "Liar."

Jason smirked in reply, looking her openly in the eyes. "When have I ever lied to you?"

She nodded once to herself, accepting the question as the statement of truth that it was. "You're just saying that to make me feel better."

"Is it working?"

An errant curl brushed the underside of his jaw when she tilted her face and gazed back at him. "A little."

"Then I guess I'll have to keep going," he answered softly, wrapping his arms around her waist and feeling her relax onto his body. "You're the best person I know. You've always trusted me and you've always supported me, even when I started working for Sonny. Very few people would have been able to handle that, Elizabeth, but you…you never let it get to you." He had to clear his throat before he was able to continue. "Even after…the kidnapping and the bombs, you never took any of your anger out on me. You never blamed me."

"I know what you did to get me back," she murmured, brushing her fingers through the soft blonde hair at his temple. "How could I blame you?"

He leaned into her touch, relishing the feel of her soft, smooth palm against the rough stubble on his jaw. "You didn't care when people told you to stay away from me – you even stood up to the rest of my family when they told you I'd get you killed. No one's ever done that, Elizabeth."

Her smile was small but he could see the light slowly return to her breathtaking eyes. "You're worth it, Jason."

Her fingertips grazed his lips and Jason lightly pressed a kiss to the soft digits. "You've always been on my side. The business…it doesn't allow for much certainty or security, Elizabeth. When I'm away, I sometimes don't even know where I'll be sleeping that night, if I'll be sleeping. But I always know that you'll be waiting for me when I get back."

Elizabeth nodded slowly, a movement so slight that it was almost imperceptible. Her fingers remained fluttering over his lips and try as she might, Elizabeth just couldn't move them.

"You're the one constant thing in my life." She was so close that he could smell the jasmine scent she always wore. "I'd be lost without you, Elizabeth."

He waited with baited breath, heart thundering deep inside his chest, as he waited for her to respond. It was probably the heaviest discussion he'd ever had with Elizabeth on the subject, the first conversation that actually branched out of the realm of platonic friendship. Admitting that he was lost without her – that was something he had only ever admitted to himself in the secrecy of his thoughts.

She was smiling. Her full lips were curved only slightly, but it was a smile nonetheless. "No one's ever said anything like that to me. Not even Ric." Jason tried not to cringe at the mention of her ex-boyfriend. Elizabeth reached up to tuck a wave of chocolate locks behind her ear and smiled sheepishly, closing her eyes as she leaned forward and rested her forehead against his. She heard his sharp intake of breath but didn't move, and soon Jason's hand found her upper back, anchoring her in place.

Their breaths mingled as she lay on top of him, her forehead still resting heavily against his. "Oh, Jason. No one knows how to make me feel better the way you do." She opened her eyes and gazed down into his, and Jason's heart skipped a beat as he wondered if she understood what he really meant, but then it fell on her next words. "I'm so fortunate to have you as my best friend."

_**If only I'd thought of the right words  
**__**I wouldn't be breaking apart  
**__**All my pictures of you**_

Jason had to swallow painfully before he could speak again. Best friend. Of course; that was what it always came down to. He'd been a fool to think that she'd understand the feelings he had for her – much less welcome them.

She was tracing soft circles in his shirt, looking down at her finger as it tugged on the fabric with its movement. "Jason?"

"Yeah?"

"About what you said earlier…" She looked up at him seriously, not noticing how quickly he had hidden the already present disappointment in his eyes. "I would never ask you to walk away."

"G-Good," he choked out. "That's…good."

"You know," that cute little smile – the one that he loved – was playing upon her lips, "Sarah never understood us. She'd always tell me that there was no possible way for a guy and girl to be best friends because at some point it just had to turn into more." She shifted against him, her face alarmingly close to his. "Guess we proved her wrong, huh?"

"Guess so," Jason answered softly.

_**Looking so long at these pictures of you  
**__**But I never held on to your heart**_

"Jason?"

His tired eyes, dull now and lacking their omnipresent twinkle, met hers. "Yeah?"

"Thank you for being here."

The words were soft and almost hesitant, and they broke through the barrier of Jason's disappointment. The corner of his mouth hooked upwards and he swept a hand up and down her back, soothing her. "Elizabeth, remember, I'm always here for you."

She didn't move from her position, and her face remained close to his. "How'd you know?"

He let his eyes flutter half-closed, studying her under his lashes and never stopping his sweeping motions across her back. "Lucky told me you'd missed class and your shift and I just…I knew."

She blushed and couldn't suppress the small smile that blossomed on her lips. "You always know, don't you? You always know when I need you."

He smiled back and only nodded, his gaze lingering on her creamy porcelain skin, her small nose, the little dimple in her chin, studying the utter perfection of her angelic face.

_**Looking so long for the words to be true  
**__**But always just breaking apart  
**__**My pictures of you**_

"You know, it doesn't matter," she announced quietly all of a sudden. "It doesn't matter."

Jason's sandy brows furrowed, and his hand that was stroking her curly hair stilled. "What doesn't matter?"

"It doesn't matter that…that they forgot to tell me. It doesn't matter that he told me I had a wounded bird complex. And it doesn't matter that he told me he'd never live up to my expectations of him." She shifted closer until their noses were almost touching, and the dazzle that he loved so much had returned to her eyes as she implored him to understand what she was saying. "It doesn't matter, Jason."

"Elizabeth-"

A slow smile, wide and bright, stretched across her lips and Jason was surprised to see that it was genuine. "I just realized something, Jason." She cocked her head to the side and just looked down into his eyes, and the honesty and tenderness in her eyes almost stole Jason's breath away. "For everyone that left, everyone that told me I wasn't good enough…it doesn't matter. Because the person that's most important to me stayed."

Her fingers stroked his jaw lightly, that same loving smile on her lips. "And he's still here."

Jason's breath caught in his throat when he realized what she meant. "Elizabeth-"

"I know, I know," she chuckled. "You've been telling me for an hour that you'd always stay, that you'll always be here. But the thing is…I don't think I should be as concerned with the future right now as I should be with the past and the…the _now_, Jason. Here. This. Now. You're here. No matter what happened to me in the last few years, you never left."

"My parents, Zander, Ric…What I'm trying to say is that…they don't mean nearly as much to me as you do." The enforcer couldn't believe he was actually hearing her say those words. "The point is that I can handle it – I can handle my parents ditching me and Zander and Ric running off. But I couldn't handle it if you left." Her forehead brushed tenderly against his. "And that's the difference, Jason."

He smiled up at her, not doubting the sincerity of her words but not altogether able to believe that she had just said them aloud. It sounded so…right.

_**There was nothing in the world  
**__**That I ever wanted more  
**__**Than to feel you deep in my heart**_

Elizabeth grinned and pressed a smacking kiss to his forehead as he lay sprawled beneath her. "You always make me feel as good as new, Jason. How do you do it?"

"Simple," he murmured back, cupping her face in his large hands. "I care."

She blushed and allowed herself to enjoy his touch, the sensation of his rough palms and calloused fingers against her soft skin. "Yeah. You always did. Even that first night. Remember?"

Jason groaned at the mention of the night they left, only able to remember how she was dressed and how his body had reacted to her. He wasn't exactly proud of his manners that night, either. And Elizabeth had long since promised never to let him live it down. "Elizabeth…"

"You were so concerned about me being the new little girl in an unfamiliar place that you didn't leave me until I got into that cab, remember?" she smiled fondly, tilting her head which was still captured between his broad hands.

Jason smiled back at her, remembering that his refusal to leave her side had little to do with chivalry and more to do with the fact that every other man in the joint looked as if he wanted to jump her bones on the spot, and that by sticking to her side, he'd just been marking his own territory. Wisely, he chose to keep that bit of information to himself.

"We've come so far since that first pool game, haven't we?" she murmured, letting her fingers fan across his strong jaw.

"Yeah," he whispered back, removing one hand from her face so that he could prop himself up on one elbow. "We have."

Her eyes darted from one of his to the other. "A couple shoot-outs, a bomb, a side wound-"

"A sorry little Christmas tree, a few paper chains," he smirked in reply.

"I loved that Christmas tree!" she exclaimed, only slightly offended.

His laughter was the sound of rustling leaves. "So did I."

"And a couple more shoot-outs, a kidnapping-"

"A piece of red glass," he murmured back, sitting up slightly and feeling his blood rush through his ears when her soft body complied to his movement. She had slid down his chest slightly with the vertical motion and their legs were still tangled together.

Elizabeth blinked slowly when her hands fell to his neck, surprised to feel that the sensitive flesh was warm and getting warmer. "A piece of red glass," she affirmed with a small nod. "A-And the postcard from Italy…"

"Should go back there," he continued softly, sitting up fully at last. She had slid seamlessly into his lap and they were now pressed together from the pelvis to the chest with her hands still resting softly on his neck. Jason had to bite back a moan when her thumbs swept through the soft tawny hair at his nape, and moved to delve his long fingers into her chocolate curls and cup her petal-soft cheeks. "We still have to see the Palio together."

"Yeah, the P-Palio," she got out, blinking in an attempt to focus her vision. Jason's eyes were inches from her own and were boring into her own. "That's the horse race, right…?"

"Mm-hmm," he murmured, allowing his thumbs to sweep across her creamy skin. "They run it every year in the streets of Sienna…"

Their faces were so close that their breaths had begun to mingle, and Jason closed his eyes as Elizabeth's familiar scent of jasmine washed over him. God, she smelled good. The brunette in his lap withdrew her small hands from his neck and closed them around his wrists, and the contact brought Jason out of his trance. When he opened his eyes, he found hers staring back into his with an intensity he had never imagined from Elizabeth.

Tentatively, his thumb swept over her skin again and Elizabeth leaned into the touch. They were both equally surprised when she opened her mouth and let a low whimper escape, shocked as it fluttered between them, "Jason…"

And that was all the urging he needed. Fingers still tangled up in her wild curls, her small, soft body in his lap and pressed intimately against his, Jason Morgan leaned forward and brushed her lips against his. The kiss was pure and innocent, a simple partnering of lips, and Elizabeth sighed into his mouth. Jason's lips began to probe hers, gently and without any demands, as he used his grip on her to slowly bring her closer still. After four years of dancing around her, Jason finally had what he wanted: a more-than-best-friend.

_**There was nothing in the world  
**__**That I ever wanted more  
**__**Than to never feel the breaking apart  
**__**All my pictures of you**_

**

* * *

**

The End - remember, sequel coming up.


End file.
